EDIT – The green-eyed boy is no longer called Jared. I thought of a better name for him. And, just to answer RavieGrint's… No, Jared-now-called-Zack-I-changed-his-name-not-only-because-I-thought-of-a-better-name-but-also-because-of-confusion-with-Jared-of-the-werewolf-pack (wow, that's a mouthful), he's not Jared-of-the-werewolves, but rather just another high school guy who's…well…keep on reading to find out!
A/N: Hey, hey! Guess who's here! Yup, another new chapter! And within what, THREE DAYS? Let me here those gasps. I know, I know, you're probably sitting in front of your computer gaping at the e-mail or whatever you have open that says I updated. Then, you're probably pinching yourself to see if you're dreaming. Nope, you're not. But, enjoy this while it lasts, because I have a busy month ahead of me, and probably won't update within three days. This chapter has serious emotional stuff in the first half and then pure fluff that adds drama to the story in the last half. Hope you like it! Oh, and, of course, thanks for the reviews! I've just been staring at the computer screen day after day thanking the review gods that people are reviewing! Thanks!
Disclaimer: Fan fiction. This is fan fiction. What does that mean? Why, of course, it means I don't own TwilightNew Moon and/or Eclipse
"There was a girl."
"A girl."
"Her name was-is Bella."
"Jacob loved her."
"Very much."
"Kara."
I stopped in front of my locker. "Jacob," I acknowledged. There was a pause before I added, "What's wrong? Is there something you need?" He stared at me with unreadable, troubled eyes. I shifted my weight uncomfortably. "What?"
He sighed, looking down at the floor and moving away from my locker. "I think we need to talk."
I wouldn't look at him, though I knew what he meant. I couldn't look at him. "Why would you think that, Jake?" I asked, keeping my voice light and quiet.
"You've been avoiding me for the past week." It was stated emotionlessly, making me wince behind my wall of hair.
"I haven't," I immediately contradicted while cautiously unlocking the locker, careful to keep my face hidden.
"What do you call sitting with the French people at lunch instead of us?" I didn't need to see his expression to confirm his frustration.
I shrugged, acting as nonchalant as I could. "They're my friends too! Just because I normally sit next to you doesn't mean I always have to sit with you guys."
His hand banged on the locker next to mine. I flinched. "You normally do, but what's so not normal about the past few days that makes you sit with them instead of us?"
"Nothing!" I protested, whirling around to face Jacob, regretting this action the moment my blue eyes met his dark ones. I could tell that he was confused, troubled by everything.
"Come back to sitting with us."
"There is no us and no them! This is a free country! I can sit with whomever I want."
"You're choosing to sit with them." His voice was accusing. He continued staring at me before asking me softly, so softly I almost didn't hear. "Is this all because of last week?"
I took a shaky breath breaking our eye contact at the same time. "I can't pretend it didn't happen."
"I haven't been."
"I don't know what to think, okay? That night in the car, I shouldn't have exploded on you like that, I know." My hands played absentmindedly with the zipper of my sweatshirt. "I feel so confused. At first I just wanted to fit in, and then you were there!" I glanced at him. "Then I had to get so into all this…stuff!"
His eyes were guarded. "What's wrong with me being there? I just wanted to be friendly."
"Absolutely nothing, that's the problem!" I brushed hair away from my face. "It's me Jacob, all me."
Jacob's head was cocked slightly to the side, signaling his puzzlement.
"The thing is… I think I've-" I stopped abruptly, catching myself in time before I could tell him the truth. The horrible truth. Instead, I turned away, my heart beating too fast, my breathing turning raspy. Why won't he just leave me alone?
The halls were filled with quiet chatter, as the remaining straggling students got ready to go home. But in that moment, it seemed as if we were the only ones left in the school. Even with my back towards Jacob, I could sense the rollercoaster of emotions rolling off the werewolf. And even then, my heart yearned for me to reach out and comfort him, even if it meant hurting myself another time.
"I'm your friend, Kara," his voice wafted softly behind me. "That night in the car, you were…you were right to explode. But I can't. I've tried so hard to forget her."
"There was a girl."
"A girl."
"Her name was-is Bella."
"It's so hard. I fell too hard for her to forget her."
I concentrated on packing my belongings and calming my feelings before turning to see Jacob still there, looking at me with sad, wide eyes, reminding me of his expression after I had yelled at him in his car.
"Jacob loved her."
"Very much."
"Jacob…"
His eyes refocused on me.
"Jacob loved her."
"I…" I stopped, feeling the wetness in my eyes. "I know." The tears slid slowly down. "I-I'm sorry." And I wrapped my arms around him, trying to comfort him, but feeling my heart wrenching apart at the same time, protesting my thoughts, my feelings, protesting what I was doing. I knew I could never cut myself away from him. Everything always came back to this. I couldn't see him hurt; it would hurt me as well. And, even though his heart held another's I held him tighter, not letting go, wanting him to know that I would always anchor him to the world, and that I was there for him no matter what he thought, no matter what he did. After all, I had promised myself, Embry and Quil the very thing, even if I hadn't thought to mean as much when I said it then; I had promised.
"I won't hurt Jacob."
----------
"Hey!"
I jumped and squeaked, hands flying to my throat in surprise. I paused for a moment before swiveling around in my chair with a death-glare already in place on my face. The first thing I noticed about the intruder's face, was his mouth, which was smirking in the most disgusting manner making me want to slap him for scaring me in the first place, and then slap him another time just for smirking at me. I thought it was one of the werewolves, but as my eyes slowly moved away from his still smirking mouth, I saw sandy blonde hair and emerald green eyes and I froze, my glare melting away into a light blush.
Grinning, the green-eyed boy crashed down next to me on the empty seat. "Scared you didn't I?"
I scowled at the table, all embarrassment forgotten. It was lunch the next day, and I was back to sitting where I had been since the start of the school year; with Jacob and Embry. Quil was talking to his teacher about his English mark. I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "Um, why are you here?"
"Can I not be here?" the boy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're not usually here, that's all." Besides, I didn't even really know his name.
"Zack."
I gawked at him. "Huh?"
"That's my name," he said simply.
"Oh, okay…Zack. Why are you here?"
"Am I not welcome here?"
I was in the middle of rolling my eyes when Rachel, a good friend from French class plopped down on the other side of me. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," I replied, wondering what on earth she was doing here as well. This was turning out to be a weird lunch. "Why are you here too?"
"Awww, I feel so welcome!" I glared at her. "What?" She looked too innocent. "I missed not being able to sit with you at lunch!"
"It's been ten minutes," I reminded her, daring her to continue.
"Oh, well, yes, those ten minutes made me realize how much I missed you!"
"Just shut it, Rachel." She smirked and opened her lunch bag, artlessly eavesdropping on my continued conversation with Zack. I turned back to said boy. "Just tell me why you're here," I told him, in a business-like fashion.
"I wanted to apologize."
My eyes narrowed. We weren't getting anywhere with this question and answer session. "For?"
"Yesterday."
"You have already," I said, remembering the accident yesterday, and blushing at the memory. I wondered what he really wanted.
He shot me a blinding smile, making my blush redden. "Are you free tomorrow night?" he tossed out boldly.
I stared at him, mouth wide open. What? "P-pardon me?"
Chuckling, he repeated his question, slowly as if talking to a too excited six year old. "Are. You. Free. On. Saturday. Night?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?" I blurted out.
"Sure," he replied easily, unwrapping his own packed sandwich and biting into it. "So, are you?"
I was speechless. Dragging my eyes to the floor, I contemplated the black tiles wondrously. "Um…. I don't-"
"Yes she is!" a voice beside me exclaimed, answering the invitation for me. I whirled around to find Rachel beaming brilliantly like an absolute idiot. What? She grinned at me. Distracted by the sound of a chair's scraping sound against the cafeteria floor, I twisted towards the sound to see Zack getting up with his sandwich and flashing me another smile.
"So… I'll pick you up at seven, then?"
"Um."
"Yes, of course," Rachel said, finding my foot and stepping on it, making me yelp.
"See you in last period French then!" He gave me a little wave before disappearing into the crowds of people.
My French class friend twirled me around squealing conspicuously. "Do you know who that is, Kara?" I shook my head no. "OHMIGAWWWD, that's Zack Connors, one of the most sought after guys ever!"
"Um." I seemed to have a limited vocabulary these days.
"And, and! HE JUST ASKED YOU OUT!" And thus she started squealing and hyperventilating. I had a feeling someone was more excited than I was.
The sound of a chair scraping the floor again caught my attention and I turned to see Jacob getting up with an expressionless face, a face I knew too well he only used when he was angry or upset. Embry was behind him looking at Jacob concernedly. Jacob caught my eye, and smiled, but I could tell he didn't really mean it. I got up to follow him except Rachel tugged me back down for more screeching and excitement. I looked after him, wishing I could know what had happened. However, I spent the rest of lunch looking at the door the werewolves left by and not really listening to Rachel's plans and continued squealing.
A/N: Hehehe…. Cackle… I'm so giddy right now, probably because this isn't a chapter that I hate. Hehehe… I did look over this, but I posted this chapter as soon as I finished writing it, so there might be just tiny mistakes. Let me know what you think! Get ready for some Jacob thoughts in the next chapter (cough – Maybe Jake's point of view, who knows? – cough) Reviews are greatly appreciated.